It's no wonder poor pathetic kerry is foaming at the mouth insulting the President. LOL... The Vice President using kerry's words and votes makes him out the loony toon...
Remarks by the Vice President at a Reception for Gubernatorial Candidate Mitch Daniels
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These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another the next. We need a Commander-in-Chief of clear vision and steady determination. And that is just what we have in our President, George W. Bush. (Applause.) And that measure should be applied to the candidate who now opposes him in the election of 2004, the Junior Senator from Massachusetts.
In one of Senator Kerry's recent observations about foreign policy he informed his listeners that he has met with unnamed foreign leaders who support him. (Laughter.) A voter in Pennsylvania asked Senator Kerry directly who these foreign leaders are. Senator Kerry said, "That's none of your business." (Laughter.)
But it is our business when a candidate for President claims the political endorsement of foreign leaders. American voters are the ones charged with determining the outcome of this election, not unnamed foreign leaders.
Senator Kerry has also asserted that our troops in Iraq are not receiving the material support they need. And I'd like to remind the Senator that last fall, at the President's request, Congress considered legislation providing funding to support the troops for body armor, hazard pay, health benefits, ammunition, fuel and spare parts for our military. Senator Kerry at the time was asked whether he would vote against the President's request. He said, and I quote, "I don't think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops. That's irresponsible." End quote. The legislation passed overwhelmingly with a vote in the Senate of 87 to 12. Senator Kerry voted "no."
As a way to clarify the matter recently, Senator Kerry said, and again I quote: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." (Laughter.) End quote. Obviously, the Senator is free to vote as he wishes, but he should be held to his own standard. It is irresponsible to vote against vital support for the U.S. military.
On the broader picture, Senator Kerry has questioned whether the war on terror is really a war at all. Recently he said, I don't want to use that terminology. In his view, opposing terrorism is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law enforcement operation. As we've seen, however, that approach was tried before and proved entirely inadequate to protecting the American people from terrorists who are quite certain they are at war with us.
I leave it for Senator Kerry to explain his votes and his statements about the war on terror, or our cause in Iraq, and the needs of the American military. Whatever the explanation, it is not an impressive record for someone who aspires to become Commander-in-Chief in this time of testing for our country.
The American people will have a clear choice in this year's election, on national security, as well as on policies here at home. When the President took office, the economy was sliding into recession. Then, just as our economy was ready to recover, terrorists struck our nation and shook our economy once again. President Bush has taken strong confident steps to get the economy growing again. Supported by the leadership of Mitch Daniels, the President has signed into law significant tax relief for millions of American families and businesses. We doubled the child tax credit, decreased the marriage penalty, cut tax rates across the board, and have put the death tax on its way to extinction.
Now, we're seeing the results of the President's policies. Last month, the economy added over 300,000 new jobs, and we've just created more than 750,000 jobs since August. In the second half of last year, our economy grew at an annual rate of nearly 6.2 percent, its fastest pace in nearly two decades, and the highest rate of any major industrialized nation in the world. The home ownership rate is the highest ever. Interest rates and inflation are low. Manufacturing activity is increasing. Productivity is high. Business investment is rising. Incomes are growing. And America's economy is moving in the right direction. (Applause.)
The American people are using their money far better than the government would have, and Congress was right to let them keep it. As you know, there are voices in the land who want to roll back the Bush tax cuts. If elected, Senator Kerry has promised to repeal the Bush tax cuts in his first 100 days in office.
That isn't surprising when you consider his record on taxes. Over the years, Senator Kerry has voted over 350 times for higher taxes on the American people, including the biggest tax increase in American history. For the sake of long-term job growth and job-creation, we ought to do exactly the opposite of what Senator Kerry proposes: We should make the Bush tax cuts permanent and practice spending discipline in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
As we work to keep this economy on the right track, we need good partners at the state level, as well. We need governors who understand, as we do, that the key to more jobs is not big government but free enterprises, and low taxes, and spending discipline. That's the kind of governor Mitch Daniels will be for the people of Indiana. (Applause.)
Mitch was part of the team that started the economic recovery. To strengthen that recovery we're going to move forward with an aggressive pro-growth agenda. Our nation needs legal reform to protect small business owners and employees from frivolous lawsuits and needless regulation. We need to control the cost of health care by passing medical liability reform. Here in Indiana, and across the nation, good doctors should be able to spend their time healing patients, not fighting off frivolous lawsuits. We need to pass sound energy legislation to modernize our electricity system and to make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
It is also time for the United States Senate to get about the business of confirming President Bush's judicial nominees. (Applause.) The President has put forward talented, experienced men and women who represent the mainstream of American law and American values. Yet Senate Democrats have taken to waging filibusters, denying up-or-down votes for months, and even years. This is unfair to judicial nominees, and it is an abuse of the constitutional process. Every nominee deserves a prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. And that's one more reason we need more Republicans like Dick Lugar in the United States Senate. (Applause.)
On issue after issue, from national security, to economic growth, to improving our schools, President Bush has led the way in making progress for the nation. The President has a clear vision of the future for the nation: Abroad, he will use America's great power to serve great purposes, to turn back the forces of terror, and to spread hope and freedom throughout the world.
Here at home, we will continue building prosperity that reaches every corner of the land so that every child who grows up in the United States will have a chance to learn, to succeed, and to rise in the world.
President Bush and I are both honored by your confidence in us and by your commitment to the cause we all share. We're grateful to our many friends in Indianapolis and across this great state. And we're proud to stand with Mitch Daniels in this campaign. He's one of the best candidates for any office anywhere in the country. We're looking forward to the months ahead. And we look forward to the day that Mitch Daniels is inaugurated as the 49th governor of the state of Indiana.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
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